Reference Viewer

This page defines Asset references and how to view them in Unreal Engine. It also gives an overview of the Unreal Engine tools for identifying Asset references, as well as their settings and other functionality.

What Are Asset References?

If an Asset makes use of another Asset in some way, we say that the first Asset references the second one.

For example, if a Cube Actor uses a Color Material, the Actor references that Material. We can also say that the Actor has a dependency on that Material. Think of it this way: the Actor needs the Material to look as it should.

In the example above, the DistanceToNearest_Mat_Gradient Material references the OceanNoise Texture2D Asset.

References are one-way (unidirectional). The referenced Asset has no reference back to its referrer.

Reference Viewer Tool

The Reference Viewer displays a graph of Assets that reference or are referenced by one or more Assets.

To open the Reference Viewer:

1. In the Content Browser, select one or more Assets.

2. Right-click the selected Asset(s). Then, from the context menu, select Reference Viewer.

If you selected:

• One Asset, the Reference Viewer displays that Asset's references.

• Multiple Assets, you only see the references that your selected Assets have in common.

• A folder, you see a graph of references for all Assets in that folder.

Click the image for full size.

The screenshot above illustrates the main elements of the Reference Viewer:

1. Other Assets that reference the selected Assets.

2. The selected Assets.

3. Other assets that are referenced by the selected Assets.

4. The Reference Viewer toolbar.

5. The Search panel with several active Asset Filters.

These elements are described in detail below.

Asset References

The Reference Viewer tool displays a graph of Assets that reference or are referenced by the selected Asset. The referencing relationship is shown by an arrow pointing towards the referenced Asset.

In this example, the relationship between the M_Tree_FallTreeMerged_01 Material and the other three Assets is made clear by the three arrows connecting them.

Right-click any Asset in the graph to open a context menu with the following options:

	[/Game/Foliage/Foliage_TallGrass - Dependencies]
	[HARD]
		/Game/Foliage/M_Lit_Foliage.M_Lit_Foliage

Copy full snippet

	[/Game/Foliage/Foliage_TallGrass - Dependencies]
	[HARD]
		/Game/Foliage/M_Lit_Foliage.M_Lit_Foliage

Copy full snippet

Reference Viewer Toolbar

Located at the top of the Reference Viewer window, the Reference Viewer toolbar provides the following options:

Search Panel

In the upper-left corner of the Reference Viewer, use the Search panel to:

• Find a reference or dependency by name.
• Filter references by Asset type.
• Configure the depth to which Unreal Engine searches for references and dependencies.
• Restrict the search to a specific Asset Collection.

The screenshot above illustrates the main areas of the Search Panel.

Asset Nodes in the Reference Viewer

Each Asset in the Reference Viewer is represented by a node in the visual graph. Nodes are color-coded by Asset type and contain more information about the Asset, such as its name, type, thumbnail, and so on.

Nodes can be regular (fully displayed) or compact. Toggle between these two modes from the View menu in the Reference Viewer Toolbar (refer to the Reference Viewer Toolbar section above), or by using the V keyboard shortcut.

Regular node	Compact node

Inactive Nodes

If you use filters, you might see some nodes that are inactive (they are semi-transparent and always in compact mode). These nodes are excluded by your current filters, but they exist between two Assets that are not excluded. Inactive nodes are still displayed so the chain of references remains clear.

In this example, Material Assets are filtered out. The two Material nodes (M_Tree_FallBark_01 and M_Tree_FallTreeMerged_01) are still shown as inactive nodes to keep the reference chain intact.

Overflow Nodes

For large values of the Search Breadth Limit value in the Search Panel, the Reference Viewer won't display all Asset references at once. Instead, you will see an Overflow node. Double-click this node to view the remaining references.

The GIF below illustrates the use of overflow nodes.

Reference Viewer Keyboard Shortcuts